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Posts with tag american airlines

A silver lining in the friendly skies: Airlines are leaving on time

by Bruce Watson Nov 12th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Simplification, Travel

Although delays have long been an expected part of the air travel experience, 2007 marked something of a high point for lengthy layovers; over the course of that year, 25% of all domestic flights failed to arrive on time. While Fall 2008 has shown marked improvement over the past year, a few airlines are still vying for the title of the most delayed flight in the USA. According to USA Today, the winner is American Airlines' flight 1267 from Miami to San Juan, which was late 86.7% of the time in October, the latest data available.

Also tops on the list: Comair flight 6273 from Cleveland to Atlanta was late 82.8% of the time.

On the bright side for those stuck waiting for those flights, Miami International Airport has La Carreta, a well-reviewed Cuban restaurant, while Cleveland Hopkins International Airport has several local restaurants and two local breweries. With a little planning and the right flight to Atlanta or San Juan, you can continue to experience the joys of air travel, 2007 style!


Holiday Travel = Waiting?

    **FILE** In this Feb. 10, 2006 file photo, tourists relax enjoying the sunset on a beach in the Caribbean city of Cartagena, Colombia. Several carriers have said that advance bookings for the 2008-2009 holiday season, show their planes are expected to be as full as or fuller than a year ago in part because they have taken so many seats out of the air. (AP Photo/Ricardo Maldonado, file)

    AP

    PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 16: Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his wife Cindy McCain are joined by campaign staff while transfering from his airplane to a helicopter at the Philadelphia International Airport October 16, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Due to airport delays in Newark, McCain had to take a helicopter to Manhattan so to make it to his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** John McCain;Cindy McCain

    Getty Images

    PHILADELPHIA - OCTOBER 16: Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his wife Cindy McCain are joined by campaign staff while transfering from his airplane to a helicopter at the Philadelphia International Airport October 16, 2008 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Due to airport delays in Newark, McCain had to take a helicopter to Manhattan so to make it to his appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** John McCain;Cindy McCain

    Getty Images

    A special opera performance is staged in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008 to celebrate China's National Day which falls on October 1. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    A special opera performance is staged in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008 to celebrate China's National Day which falls on October 1. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    A special opera performance is staged in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008 to celebrate China's National Day which falls on October 1. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    A special opera performance is staged in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008 to celebrate China's National Day which falls on October 1. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    A special opera performance is staged in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008 to celebrate China's National Day which falls on October 1. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    Visitors admire the miniature figurines on display at an art exhibition in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images

    A Chinese visitor admires the miniature figurines on display at an art exhibition in Xian, northern China's Shaanxi province on September 30, 2008. Millions of Chinese are spending their week-long October 1 National Day holidays travelling to various tourist spots and attractions throughout the country. CHINA OUT GETTY OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

    AFP/Getty Images



Tags: American Airlines, AmericanAirlines, CincinnatiNorthern Kentucky International Airport, CincinnatinorthernKentuckyInternationalAirport, cleveland hopkins international airport, ClevelandHopkinsInternationalAirport, Comair, Gold Star Chili, GoldStarChili, miami international airport, MiamiInternationalAirport, OHare, peets coffee, PeetsCoffee, wolfgang puck, WolfgangPuck

Continue reading A silver lining in the friendly skies: Airlines are leaving on time

Game the system: How to get your money back if an airfare drops after you buy your ticket

by Jason Cochran Oct 27th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Budgets, Extracurriculars, Technology, Transportation, Travel


So you buy an airfare at a ridiculous price -- or even a good one. And a week later, the airline decides it hasn't sold enough seats. Rather than fly an empty plane, which would cost it money, it slashes the prices on seats. Come the day of the flight, you turn to the person sitting next to you and learn, to your disgust, that they paid $200 less than you did.

What can you do? Well, by the time you're on the flight, often nothing. But if you discover you've paid more than you had to before you have used the ticket, you can usually petition the airline for the price difference. Usually, that refund comes in the form of a voucher that you use for future travel, but that's still money you don't have to spend later on.

But, surprise! Some airlines have a nasty trick up their sleeve. Many charge obscene change fees since, the way they see it, they have to pull your old ticket and issue a new one to give you the better price. That means that for domestic flights on U.S. Airways, Continental, and American, the price has to drop by more than $150 in order to give you an ultimate benefit. But plenty of other airlines don't charge any fee at all (JetBlue, Alaska, United), or their fee is small enough to give you pretty good chances (Northwest's is $50, AirTran's $75). The fees are usually steeper for international flights, but then again, the price drops stand to be higher for those, too.

After you book a flight, you could keep returning to the airlines' websites to double-check the rate status of your booked flights. That will work. But one of the lesser-known airline booking sites, Yapta, keeps tracking the price of the stuff you've bought, and if it descends past the point where you can actually make some money back, it alerts you by e-mail. (The site, like Hotwire's Trip Watcher and Farecast, will also keep an eye on rates for flights you haven't bought.) Every bit helps, right? Maybe the amount you save will pay for a pack of peanuts. Barely.

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Tags: airfare, airfare sales, airfares, AirfareSales, airline, airlines, AirTran, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, change fees, ChangeFees, Continental Airlines, credit, credits, Delta, Farecast, Hotwire, hotwire.com, Jet Blue, JetBlue, Northwest Airlines, NorthwestAirlines, refund, refunds, tips, Trip Watcher, TripWatcher, U.S. Airways, U.s.Airways, United Airlines, UnitedAirlines, voucher, vouchers, Yapta, Yapta.com

Continue reading Game the system: How to get your money back if an airfare drops after you buy your ticket

Thanksgiving travel: Make your air reservations now

by Amey Stone Aug 28th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Transportation, Travel

Even though summer isn't over yet, for those of you who travel over Thanksgiving, it is already time to start thinking about booking your flights.

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest flying times of the year and this year there are going to be a lot fewer flights available. In an effort to save on costs and in hopes of being able to raise prices, airlines are cutting back on the number of flights they offer. American airlines is shrinking its flight capacity in its main US markets by up to 12% in the Fall and United by up to 16.5%. (Southwest just announced it would cut 200 flights, or about 6%, but not till January, 2009).

Travelers in certain markets will find the cuts much more severe than those percentages imply. If you are used to taking a direct flight, from, let's say, Albany to Chicago on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, you will have half the amount of flights to choose from -- four this year, down from eight last year, according to a report from USA Today. From Boston to Chicago there are three fewer flights, from San Diego there are two fewer flights, and from Pittsburgh there are six fewer direct flights on that route that day.

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Tags: airlines, airport, american airlines, AmericanAirlines, holidash, southwest, thanksgiving, travel, united

Continue reading Thanksgiving travel: Make your air reservations now

Hi I'm Jason! Gouge me! New airline charges come out of business travelers' own pockets

by Jason Cochran Aug 20th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Borrowing, Budgets, Cards, Transportation, Travel

When you travel for work, you know the drill: Get receipts for everything. When you spend cash for stuff like meals, beverages, hotels, and rental cars, your employer is likely to pick up the tab as long as you've got proof of purchase.

But what if you have to spend money on the road but can't get a receipt? It's happening more and more. The major airlines have deployed their newest fees with such haste that they are not always equipped to issue receipts for on-board purchases. Ask a flight attendant for one, and on some carriers you're more likely to receive a blank stare than appropriate documentation.

Take U.S. Airways. As of Aug. 1, the carrier began charging for drinks of any sort, including $2 for water. Passengers are not permitted to carry their own beverages through security, and buying drinks in the terminal is not always possible either because of a time crunch or because of personal dignity over gouging. If you, a business traveler, decide during Hour Three of a flight that you're thirsty, the staff will sell you a drink but they won't be able to give you a receipt.

I called U.S. Airways to ask if any of its flight attendants were equipped to furnish receipts for this newfangled charge. The answer was no. Right now, an airline rep told me, there are "plans" to give on-board staff hand-held devices for printing receipts by the first quarter of 2009, but for now, they have nothing, and those nebulous "plans" could not be elucidated for me. U.S. Airways' flight attendants also have neither the training or the equipment to write receipts by hand.

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Tags: airlines, airtran, american airlines, business travel, cash, charges, credit cards, CreditCards, expenses, featured, fees, frontier airlines, jetblue, receipts, u.s. airways, virgin america, VirginAmerica

Continue reading Hi I'm Jason! Gouge me! New airline charges come out of business travelers' own pockets

Airlines discover the secret to saving cash: Take a slooooow ride!

by Bruce Watson Jul 3rd 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Technology, Transportation, Travel

If you drive, then chances are that you, like almost everybody else, have been looking for little techniques to reduce your gas consumption. In their quest to save money, airlines have begun doing the same. While tricks like charging for the first checked bag and hiring extra carry-on inspectors have captured the public's interest, a less-obvious technique is also paying major dividends: Planes are flying slower.

Recently, two European airlines, EasyJet Plc (Europe's second-largest discount airline) and BMI, have asked their pilots to fly slower to reduce gas intake. In the case of easyJet, this has come in the form of a missive asking for a 2% reduction in flying speeds, while BMI has asked for a 3 mph drop.

It's worth noting that both of these airlines are discount carriers. EasyJet, in fact, seems to be following the pay-as-you-go, charge a fee for everything model that American Airlines has been flirting with. In this context, it's easy to understand how the company might be searching for ways to eke out every single penny.

On this side of the Atlantic, several airlines, including Southwest, United, JetBlue, and Northwest have been experimenting with the technique, and have found that it can save hundreds of dollars per flight. Southwest, in fact, expects to save $42 million this year by flying just a little bit slower. While this extends the length of each flight, the difference is negligible, generally lasting only a few minutes.

Now if they could only find a way to transfer that savings back into free checked baggage!

Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He recently opened his own airline. Although they have yet to fly a single plane, they've already cut costs by firing ten pilots and eliminating most of their flights!

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Tags: American Airlines, AmericanAirlines, BMI, easyJet, easyJet Plc, EasyjetPlc, featured, gas, gas prices, GasPrices

Airlines and Detroit agree...When in doubt, make it wireless!

by Bruce Watson Jul 2nd 2008 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology, Transportation, Travel

In an odd coincidence, both American Airlines and the Chrysler corporation recently made major strides towards offering wireless connectivity to their customers. In the case of American, this means that it is partnering with Aircell LLC to install broadband service on planes. Ultimately, the carrier hopes to offer connectivity on all its aircraft, charging between $9.95 and $12.95 per passenger.

On June 25, American tested out the new technology on a few select flights. It will be interesting to see what happens when this program goes through, as other airlines (including Virgin America and JetBlue) are already making plans to adopt broadband on their flights. While ten bucks is a lot to pay for a couple hours worth of internet connectivity, the ability to surf the net, check e-mail, and play websudoku might make flights go a lot faster. Given the recent spate of stress-related outbursts and breakdowns on airplanes, it seems like anything that could help relax passengers would be a blessing. On the other hand, it's worth noting that many intercity bus lines are already offering free internet access to their patrons.

Which brings us to Chrysler. In 2009, the automaker will begin equipping its Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep models with its "uconnect" system, a dealer-installed wireless internet router. It will work over cell phone channels, and will carry a monthly fee. The system will use Wi-Fi, so users won't have to worry about running down their cell phone batteries or hooking up all sorts of cords. Ultimately, Chrysler hopes to make the system standard on all cars.


Tags: Aircell, Aircell LLC, AircellLlc, American, American Airlines, AmericanAirlines, broadband, Chrysler, Dodge, internet access, InternetAccess, Jeep, uconnect

Continue reading Airlines and Detroit agree...When in doubt, make it wireless!

United offers more incentive to use bulky, time-wasting carry-on

by Carol Vinzant Jun 12th 2008 at 5:12PM

Filed under: UAL Corp (UAUA), Personal finance, Transportation, Travel

UAL Corp's United Airlines (UAUA) announced Thursday it was going to follow American Airlines' lead and charge $15 for the first checked bag. United had already started charging steerage passengers $25 for a second bag. The fees are each way, so the standard two checked bags will now cost $80. Want to bring a third bag? You may as well Fed Ex it. That'll run you somewhere between $125 and $250, the press release says, without explaining the particulars.

United estimates their plan will rake in $275 million a year. That would be a huge amount of money for United, which has revenues of $20 billion, but net income of only $400 million.

The trouble is, when you set up such stark economic incentives, customers react. How many weekend passengers are just going to stuff what they need into their carry-on bag instead of checking a bag? Who is going to check two small bags when one large one will cost $50 less? United is incentivizing customers to behave badly. The shuffle of carry-on bags slows down passengers and airlines alike. In the name of efficiency, wouldn't it make more sense to charge for carry-ons and keep checked bags free?

Also read
Is there an alternative?



Tags: airlines, american airlines, AmericanAirlines, baggage, fees, luggage, ual, united

Why consumers should celebrate American Airlines' checked baggage charge

by Zac Bissonnette May 22nd 2008 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Transportation, Travel

The reaction to American Airline's move to charge $15 per checked bag has been swift and negative. Consumers have described the fee for something that used to be included as "outrageous" and "annoying" and Tracy Coenen joked that airlines may soon begin charging for the use of the bathroom.

But I think consumers should be applauding the fee. The fact is that the rising cost of fuel is sending airline expenses into the stratosphere and the only way to stay in business is to pass the increases onto the consumer. It's not like American Airlines is rolling in cash -- take a look at their financial statements. The company reported a first quarter loss of $328 million. It's like Richard Branson said: the fastest way to become a millionaire is to start off a billionaire and buy an airline.

Consumers should really look at the extra $15 surcharge as a discount for not checking a bag -- without the bag fee, American Airlines would have to hike fares for everyone. And doesn't it make sense that the people checking their bags should pay a larger portion of the extra costs?

So don't get mad. Travel light!

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Tags: Airlines, American Airlines, AmericanAirlines, Baggage, Travel

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